Consumers aiming for a healthier diet are being misled by clever packaging, with foods boasting 'all-natural', 'high-protein', or 'organic' claims often containing surprisingly high levels of added sugar. This deceptive marketing makes it difficult for people to know how much sugar they are truly consuming.
The Sweet Deception in Plain Sight
Many shoppers feel virtuous choosing a granola labelled 'all-natural' over a glazed pastry, or opting for a 'low-fat' yogurt 'made with real fruit'. However, these healthy-sounding buzzwords frequently conceal an unhealthy truth. Nicole Avena, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical School and Princeton University, states that added sugars are hard to spot because companies use marketing to distract consumers.
"A lot of the bigger brands don’t worry so much about people’s health," Avena said, noting that while some health-focused brands are adapting, many are not.
How to Decode the Labels and Spot Hidden Sugar
Excess sugar intake is linked to serious health risks like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. According to the American Heart Association, the average American consumes 17 grams of added sugar daily, totalling a staggering 57 pounds (26 kilograms) per year. While half comes from drinks, the rest is sneaked into everyday items like cereal, salsa, bread, and dairy products.
Checking nutrition labels is the first step. Since 2021, labels in the US must list 'added sugars' separately. However, Avena argues this plan backfired. Companies reduced traditional sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup but replaced them with alternatives like monk fruit and sugar alcohols (e.g., erythritol), which are not classified as 'added sugars' by the FDA.
"Now our foods are even more sweet than they were back in 2020," Avena warned.
Taking Back Control of Your Sugar Intake
Dietitian and professor Collin Popp from NYU Langone Health explains the FDA recommends getting no more than 10% of daily calories from added sugar—about 50 grams for a 2,000-calorie diet. He believes this is too lenient and suggests aiming for less than 5%, or near zero for those with diabetes.
The key is vigilance, even with products labelled 'organic' or perceived as healthy. For instance, a pot of Chobani black cherry yogurt can contain 9 grams of added sugar, and a cup of Silk almond milk has 7 grams. Popp recommends taking control by choosing plain yogurt and adding your own fruit or sweetener, or using unsweetened plant-based milks.
Regarding artificial sweeteners like stevia, Avena cautions they may not be better, as sweet flavours activate the brain's reward centre and can encourage overeating. While alternatives like allulose help people with Type 1 diabetes, for the general public, reducing overall dependence on sweetness is crucial.
Her final advice is stark: "Don't let the food companies decide how much sugar you're eating."
